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A review by notagreatreader
Deathless Divide by Justina Ireland
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Welp, this was quite a ride and I loved it! I can't really think of anything I didn't like about this book. Some things I liked about it:
- Jane's character evolution: from being heartbroken through being consumed by desire for revenge and locking away her feelings to the revelations in the end. Actually, at first, that time-jump mid-book felt kind of weird (like why not do two books or something if you're going to jump like that?), but it makes perfect sense within the context of Jane's character arc and it feels like one arc, so breaking up into two books would've lost that feeling of flow I think.
- Casual representation of bisexuality and aromantic asexual identity. It's just nice to see stuff like that.
- Related to that, I guess, the friendship between Katherine and Jane, and the progression of their feelings. Lovely to see a friendship between the two young women as the core most important relationship in the book.
- All the side characters felt fleshed out and distinct, their dynamics with Jane and Katherine all different.
-Gideon Carr as the villain. I guess, in hindsight, it was possible to see the seeds of that in the first book but it was really in this book that it truly became apparent that he was the villain. Especially fascinating the comparison of his all-consuming obsession to Jane's, particularly as concerns regard for other people. Also, although on surface level the scientific ethics of this story are quite straightforward, there are little bits here and there that could prompt quite a nuanced discussion.
-Jane's disappointing reunion with her mother. Lately, I'm fascinated with story lines that feature a character pursuing a goal expecting the end result to be amazing and then it turns out to be disappointing or unsatisfying, etc. The whole 'you always imagine the grass is greener on the other side' thing. But it's not true and then you have to adjust to that realization and move on.
- Jane's character evolution: from being heartbroken through being consumed by desire for revenge and locking away her feelings to the revelations in the end. Actually, at first, that time-jump mid-book felt kind of weird (like why not do two books or something if you're going to jump like that?), but it makes perfect sense within the context of Jane's character arc and it feels like one arc, so breaking up into two books would've lost that feeling of flow I think.
- Casual representation of bisexuality and aromantic asexual identity. It's just nice to see stuff like that.
- Related to that, I guess, the friendship between Katherine and Jane, and the progression of their feelings. Lovely to see a friendship between the two young women as the core most important relationship in the book.
- All the side characters felt fleshed out and distinct, their dynamics with Jane and Katherine all different.
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Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence